3 Texas Rangers to watch, and 2 Houston Astros that Texas needs to shut down

The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros face off starting on Labor Day Monday. It is a highly anticipated three-game series that will go a long way toward determining the postseason future for both of these teams. The Rangers and Astros enter the series in a three-way race with the Mariners for the AL West division title. Texas and Houston are currently tied both one game behind Seattle. This series could determine if the race stays a three-team race or narrows to a two-team race. Both of these teams have lots of talent, but these five players will have a big hand in determining who wins and loses this series.

3 Texas Rangers who need to step up for Texas to win the series

#1 Adolis Garcia

I do not think it is an exagerration to say that Garcia is really the heart and soul of this team. He provides energy and swagger to this lineup. He showed on Sunday afternoon with his walk-off home run that he has an ability to come through in clutch situations.

Lately he just has not been playing well at all. It has been hard to watch as he continues to swing and miss at high fastballs. It has become very predictable now to watch a Garcia at-bat and with two strikes know that the pitcher is going to go above the zone with a high fastball.

This cold stretch of baseball by the Texas Rangers is also coinciding with a cold stretch from Garcia. In Rangers' wins Garcia has a .298 batting average with 24 home runs, in Rangers' losses he has a .178 batting average with just nine home runs. When he plays well the Rangers play well. Texas needs Garcia to return to being that player who is able to refrain from chasing at pitches outside of the zone. They need him to wait for his pitch and then smash it when it comes.

Garcia also does have a history of success against the Astros. In his career Garcia has 12 home runs against the Astros and a .275 batting average. The 12 home runs is the most he has against any opponent and is tied with the Oakland A's . He is the Astros killer on this team and Texas will need him to do so again over the next three games.

#2 Aroldis Chapman

Chapman was traded to Texas with expectations that he would rescue the bullpen. He has been far outshone by the player Texas traded to bring Chapman to Texas. Cole Ragans has been one of the best pitchers in the American League as he was just named the AL Pitcher of the month for August. Chapman has been far from the shutdown closer that Texas was hoping he would be.

Chapman has a chance to start a dominant run of pitching that leads Texas all the way to the playoffs. Texas will need Chapman to be great. He is the one pitcher with true closer stuff on the roster. He has excellent velocity and complimentary secondary pitches as well. When he is on he is nearly unhittable.

Chapman has had one issue lately and that is walks. He has walked at least one batter in five of his last six appearances. It should be no surprise that he has allowed runs in four of his last six appearances. He also has two blown saves and two losses in that time period as well. He does not enter this series pitching well by any metric. These games will all likely be close and Texas needs to be able to rely on him to come in and shut down the Astros lineup.

If Texas can get the elite Chapman to pitch over the next three games they will win this series. The crowd is going to be behind him and he will called upon in high-leverage situations. This is his opportunity to prove that he still can pitch for a contender.

2 Houston Astros that Texas needs to be sure to shut down

#1 Jose Altuve

The 33-year old Astros second baseman is not showing his age. He recently passed the 2.000 hit milestone. If he stays healthy could make a run at 3,000 hits. It should not be a surprise that his name is on this list. He really is the engine that helps everything go. He is their lead-off hitter and his pesky ability to get on-base helps the rest of the lineup function smoothly.

Altuve has been playing very well in the second half. He was hit by a pitch in the World Baseball Classic and suffered a broken thumb as a result. He spent most of the first half coming back from that injury. Since the All-Star break, Altuve has a .356 batting average, a .971 OPS, and four home runs, and 16 RBIs. That high batting average is being inflated by a .418 batting average on balls in play. It will be on the Rangers' pitching staff starting with Andrew Heaney on Monday to do their best to keep him off base.

Altuve is not only dangerous at the plate, but he is also dangerous on the bases. He is an excellent base-runner. He also can steal a base if necessary as he has 13 stolen bases on the season and has only been caught twice this year. He is not the stolen base threat he was earlier in his career, but the ability is still there.

If Texas can limit Altuve in these three games the lineup will be less difficult to navigate. It will limit the damage that players like Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, Yordan Alvarez, and Jose Abreu can inflict. The Rangers' pitching staff has to be ready from the first pitch of the game. Altuve is ready to attack from the moment he steps into the box. He has a .465 batting average and 20 hits on the first pitch of an at-bat. Keeping Altuve off base is certainly a key to Texas winning this series.

#2 Chas McCormick

The 28-year old outfielder for the Astros is now in his third season and has become one of the more underrated players on the Astros team. He made a tremendous play in the World Series last year going into the wall in Philadelphia that helped the Astros win game 5 of that series on their way to winning the series in six games. He just has the ability to make a play when it matters the most.

The Astros lineup is full of stars and so it may appear that when a team gets past the Tucker-Alvarez-and Abreu trio it would get easier. That would be incorrect. The bottom third of McCormick, Pena, and Maldonado is challenging as well. McCormick this season has a .281 batting average, with 19 home runs, and 60 RBIs. McCormick has been great since the break. He has a .309 batting average, 11 home runs, and 33 RBIs.

McCormick is the bridge for this lineup. If he gets on base it makes it more likely that a pitcher will have to face Altuve and the top of the order with a runner on base. This is how some big innings get started for the Astros. Texas has to remember that even though McCormick is hitting seventh he can impact a game much like a player that hits third or fourth.

This Texas-Houston series is a huge series for both teams, but especially for Texas. The Rangers have been in a slide for the last three weeks. This is their chance to show they can compete with the Astros and stay in this race. It is winning time and Texas could really put some distance between themselves and the Astros if they can win two or all three games. This series could be defined by these five players.